1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power control apparatus, and in particular to an improved power control apparatus which is capable of minimizing power consumption and a harmful electrical wave and continuously maintaining a currently set state of each switch before the state of a switch is changed.
2. Description of the Background Art
Generally, a power control apparatus is installed on a wall of a house or is displayed on a floor of the house. A plug of a certain electrical appliance is connected with a port of the power control apparatus for thereby effectively controlling the power of an electrical appliance.
However, in the case that the number of connection ports of the power control apparatus (wall outlet) is small compared to the number of electrical appliances, or in the case that the electrical appliance is remote from the power control apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1, a multi-port power control apparatus is generally used.
As shown in FIG. 1, when a plug 10 is connected with a wall outlet, power is applied to each port 20 of the power control apparatus for thereby providing the power to a selected electrical appliance.
In case that the electrical appliance is not used, when the plug is connected with the port 20 of the power control apparatus, the power is continuously applied to the electrical appliance for thereby resulting in power consumption. In this case, a harmful electrical wave may be generated thereby causing a malfunction of the electrical appliance.
In addition, in order to remove the power remaining on a conductor line, each plug is disconnected from the outlet thereby causing inconvenience.
In the above case, a switch 30 is installed for turning on/off the power at one time. When the electrical appliance is not to be used, the switch 30 is turned off thereby discconnecting the power. Therefore, it is not necessary to disconnect the plug of the electrical appliance from the port 20 of the power control apparatus.
At this time, when the switch 30 is turned off, a plurality of ports 20 of the power control apparatus are disconnected, so that all appliances connected with the power control apparatus are disconnected from the power. In addition, in the case that the switch 30 is turned on, the power is supplied to the appliances which are currently used. However, in this case, the power is supplied to the appliances which are not used. Therefore, power consumption is increased, and the harmful electrical waves are generated.
In addition, in order to use the multiple-port power control apparatus, the plug is externally installed at the electrical appliance, so that an outer appearance of the product is bad. In addition, a foreign material such as a metal piece may be accidentally inserted into the power control apparatus thereby causing a short circuit.
The set state may be changed by a external cause after the switch 20 is turned on/off.
Namely, since the switch is externally formed, if a person unintentionally touches the switch, the switch may be turned on/off thereby causing an error.
For example, when a user uses the computer, the user may unintentionally touched the switch thereby turning off the computer, so that data is lost.
As another example, in the case that a worker may unintentionally touch the switch and turn off the switch at a work place such as a factory or a construction site, the set switch may be changed thereby causing an undesirable accident.